Game Details

Developer: Square EnixPublisher: Square EnixPlatforms 3DSRelease Date: July 3, 2012ESRB Rating: E10+Price: $39.99Purchase Link:Square EnixThe general description of Theatrythm Final Fantasy sounds like a bad joke generated by some sort of random video game concept generator. Take two utterly unrelated genres—rhythm and RPG, in this case— and mash them together with a well-known franchise and a crazy, hard-to-pronounce title addendum (it's "theater-rhythm," I'm told). It's a combination that doesn't seem like it should work as well as it does, but Theatrhythm is an absolutely endearing rhythm game that also serves as a sort of playable history of one of gaming's most enduring series.

Theatrhythm is a love letter to Final Fantasy fans. The game draws five memorable songs from each of the 13 numbered games in the primary Final Fantasy line (more songs can be unlocked through gameplay or bought as downloadable content). Having songs from 25 years of Final Fantasy games collected in one place helps highlight the series' impressive progression from 8-bit era chiptunes on the NES to fully orchestrated ballads, complete with lyrics, on modern disc-based systems. Playing through all of these songs in chronological order, you can't help but notice repeating patterns and musical themes that appear and reappear in similar songs, with slight variations often woven into the familiar melodies.

The game does a good job of mixing up the normally repetitive task of tapping out pre-set rhythms on top of this musical trip down memory lane. Most notes just require a simple touchscreen tap at the right moment, but there are also notes that ask the player to hold the stylus down for a set period (and lift it at just the right time), as well as notes that require a quick swipe in the direction indicated by an inset arrow. It's simple stuff, but the note patterns are matched perfectly to the music, often calling attention to some rhythms buried deep in the harmony. And while the basic songs are simple enough for even rhythm game neophytes to clear easily, the note-packed patterns in the Expert and Ultimate modes for each song are enough to make even rhythm veterans cry out in frustration.

Theatrhythm gameplay trailer

Theatrhythm also dresses up the basic rhythm gameplay with a number of RPG-styled conceits. For songs drawn from Final Fantasy battles, for instance, the notes come scrolling across the screen in four parallel lines, with each note representing an attack by one of the four members of your party standing on the far right of the screen. When playing a song drawn from an overworld map, successful notes help increase the speed and range of a party member wandering across a verdant field searching for treasure (these songs also complicate the gameplay a bit by asking players to slide the stylus up and down in undulating patterns during held notes). Then there are the songs from major Final Fantasy events, which feature notes that slowly crawl across the screen in patterns that accentuate the cinematic cut scenes running underneath.

The basic gameplay in all of these modes is more or less the same, but the changes in presentation help keep players on their toes, and make each new song feel like less of a chore. Performing well in each mode can also unlock some nice nostalgic touches, from turning into a Chocobo in the exploration mode to unleashing some extremely cute Summon attacks on unsuspecting enemies in battle mode.

A few RPG-inspired elements work their way into the gameplay as well. Completing songs earns experience points and improved statistics for your party of big-headed, super cute heroes, all of which are drawn from previous Final Fantasy games (and all of which have a tendency to spout randomly generated, heart-breakingly disaffected-yet-heroic quips in between songs). Every missed note during a song eats away at your party's hit points, so improving that key stat actually makes it easier to complete some of the game's tougher songs, while things like agility, strength, and luck help you travel farther, kill more enemies, and find better items, respectively.

Those items are also key to special abilities that can do everything from restoring your party's health automatically when it gets low, protecting you from damage from missed notes, increasing baseline stats, or activating magic spells that do more damage to enemies in battles. It's all utterly ignorable if you just want to focus on the beat matching, but RPG stat hounds will have fun seeing their numbers go up, and those who struggle with rhythm games should be able to grind their way to success.

While Theatrhythm can't match the strategic depth or epic storylines of its Final Fantasy namesake (the game seems to quickly forget about a ridiculous introductory narrative based around a rhythm-collecting crystal that helps keep good and evil in balance), Theatrhythm delivers a solid rhythm game title with just enough of an RPG splash to keep things interesting. We'd recommend it to anyone with even a casual interest in either rhythm games or the Final Fantasy series.

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl